Sun Dong Jie, Qi Xian Long, Liu Zhi, Xi Ya Guang, Liu Ling, Gao Jian, Li Chun Ying, Li Miao, Zhang Yan Guo, Gao Tian Wen.
Review of the clinical features of skin cancer: A study of 1,048 cases from a hospital in West China.
J Pak Assoc Derma Jan ;17(3):141-8.

Background: Skin cancer (SC) is a group of malignancies which include primary and metastatic tumors which involve the skin and its appendages. Up to the present, only a few studies on the clinical features and the trend of SC have been reported but the status in West China is still undetermined. Patients and methods: The SC cases were from a major hospital in West China. A total of 1048 cases from 1981 to 2006 were included in our study. The clinical features of SC including age, gender, lesion location and pathological diagnosis were analyzed. In order to illustrate the trend of SC incidence, the patients from 1981-1993 and 1994- 2006 were assigned to group A and B, respectively. The percentage of SC in all malignancies (Ms), including all kinds of internal carcinomas and skin cancers, and the percentage of SC in inpatients and outpatients (IOPs) between group A and B were separately compared to illustrate the trend in SC incidence in this area. Results: (1) Of the 1048 SCs included, 308 (29.4%) were squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 293 (28.0%) basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 168 (16.0%) cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). Ratio of male to female was 1.5: 1.0. Median age was 54.0±23.0 years. 40.8% of the SCs occurred on the head, 35.0% on the trunk and 24.2% on the extremities. Median age of CMM (53.0±22.5) was less than those of BCC (58.0±18.3 years) and SCC (57.0±20.0 years). 83.6% of the BCCs, 49.8% of the SCCs and 13.5% of the CMMs occurred on the head. (2) Of the 168 CMMs, 106 (63.1%) occurred on the acral, 23 (13.7%) on the head, 24 (14.3%) on the trunk and 15 (8.9%) on the limbs. Of the 106 acral melanoma (AM), 41 (38.7%) occurred on the plantar skin, 19 (17.9%) on the heel, 15 (14.2%) on the subungual skin of thumbs, 13 (12.3%) on the subungual skin of big toes and 18 (17.0%) on other acra. (3) The percentages of SC in IOPs (SCs/IOPs) in Group A and B were 0.0038% (325/8,457,672), 0.0066% (723/11,037,720), an increase of by 74%. The percentages of SC in all Ms (SC/Ms) were 2.1% (325/15,363) and 3.1% (723/23,364), an increase of 48%. During the same period, the percentages of Ms in IOPs (Ms/IOPs) were 0.18% (15,363/8,457,672) and 0.21% (23,364/11,037,720), increased only by 17%. Conclusions: In our study, SCC, BCC and CMM were major SC types. The head and trunk are the main sites for SC occurring. AM is the most common CMM. In past 26 years, the percentages of SC in all malignancies and in inpatients and outpatients have increased in this hospital. The finding in our study provides a clue for understanding of the trend of SC in West China.

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